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Who's Tupac?

Jr.cE.sA.r / NNT & KVS
Tue 07.09.2021 - Fri 04.08.2023
07.09.2021
-
04.08.2023

THUG’s out there! Who’s the greatest? Who’s the baddest? Who’s Tupac? Bring on your A-game for this talent show in search of the next Makaveli! Four candidates, one MC and for two hours “all eyez on you”.  

Life is a wheel of fortune and it’s your turn to spin it. This talent show features four young people who are desperate to make it. In a competition that balances between heaven and hell, they go all out … with only one goal in mind: becoming the next Tupac.

Tupac, legendary hip-hop star, who has been dead for as long as he lived by now. The man whose mother gave him the name Tupac Amaru Shakur in honour of Túpac Amaru II, the revolutionary leader of a legendary Inca uprising in the 18th century, and one of the first liberators of the Americas. Túpac Amaru II fought for his nation and his people, just like Tupac fought for equality.

“I wanted him to have the name of revolutionary, indigenous people in the world. I wanted him to know he was part of a world culture and not just from a neighborhood ...”

— Afeni Shakur, Tupac’s mother –

His name would become a cornerstone of Tupac Shakur’s destiny. He started his rap career as a rebel with a cause and decried the injustices suffered by African Americans in his songs. He certainly didn’t have a clean slate. He worked himself up from the gutter and had a few altercations with law enforcement in the process. Like Túpac Amaru II, he got so deeply involved in his battle that it became his demise: in ’96 he was killed in a drive-by shooting, a murder that remains unsolved to this day. But Tupac’s struggle lives on: he was not just a representative of his generation, he is still a symbol of the fight for equality for current generations.

Theatre collective Jr.cE.sA.r creates an intimate and powerful musical performance inspired by rapper Tupac Amaru Shakur. After Rumble in da Jungle, Malcolm X and Dear Winnie, they bring to life the legacy of another controversial figure.

16.12.2022 Afterparty with Selecta Killa

22.12.2022 Afterparty with Peter Clinton & Junior Akwety

Part of

The show is your way out

Junior Mthombeni

Tupac: how it started

City dramaturge Gerardo Salinas in conversation with writer Fikry El Azzouzi and actor Junior Akwety, who takes on one of the lead roles. 
Interview
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
"Who’s Tupac? Een rapkeizer, jawel. Maar ook een sprookje dat verlegen zit om een happy end. Een schijnvertoning, goed beschouwd. Oneindig veel meer dan swag entertainment voor de onverzadigbare, voyeuristische witte blik, hoe dan ook."
De Morgen
"Er zijn maar weinig makers die erin slagen om van het theater zo’n feestje te maken met zo’n divers publiek in de zaal."
De Standaard
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“A dazzling web of pop culture references, street slang, rap lyrics and emotional confessions (or an illusion thereof), so overwhelming that even the most seasoned hip-hop friends will have to gasp for breath by the end of the ride.”
De Morgen
“A fucking fantastic fussfest.”
Knack Focus
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
"Een duizelingwekkend web vol popculturele verwijzingen, street slang, rapteksten en emotionele biecht (of de illusie ervan), in die mate overrompelend dat zelfs de meest hardleerse hiphop head aan het einde van de rit even naar adem zal moeten happen."
De Morgen

Credits

Blindspot

Serpentina

A-pimp-named-slick-back

A-Dogg-Mobutu

Suicide

Credits

TEKST / TEXTE / TEXT Fikry El Azzouzi REGIE / MISE EN SCÈNE / DIRECTION Junior Mthombeni MUZIEKINSTALLATIE & MUZIKALE LEIDING / INSTALLATION & DIRECTION MUSICALE / MUSICAL INSTALLATION & DIRECTION Cesar Janssens SOUNDTRACK Cesar Janssens MET / AVEC / WITH Cindy Claes, Andie Dushime, Junior Akwety, Alex Akuete & Zediam SCENOGRAFIE & LICHTONTWERP / SCÉNOGRAPHIE & CONCEPTION LUMIÈRE / SCENOGRAPHY & LIGHT DESIGN Stef Stessel KOSTUUMONTWERP / CONCEPTION DE COSTUMES / COSTUME DESIGN Lieve Pynoo BEWEGING / MOUVEMENT / MOVEMENT Lisi Estaras, Quan Bui Ngoc DRAMATURGIE / DRAMATURGY Gerardo Salinas & Robbert Van Heuven OUTSIDE EYE Younes van den Broeck INSIDE EYE Junior Akwety & Alex Akuete REGIE-ASSISTENT / ASSISTANT MISE EN SCÈNE / ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Irina Reinke ONTWERP & UITVOERING KLANKINSTALLATIE / CONCEPTION & RÉALISATION INSTALLATION SONORE / DESIGN & IMPLEMENTATION OF SOUND SYSTEM Ralf Nonn, Cesar Janssens PRODUCTIELEIDER / CHARGÉE DE PRODUCTION / PRODUCTION MANAGER Tanja Vrancken & Robin Hectors TECHNISCHE PRODUCTIE & TONEELMEESTER / PRODUCTION TECHNIQUE & REGIE DE PLATEAU / TECHNICAL PRODUCTION & STAGE MANAGER Nele Druyts TECHNIEK / TECHNIQUE Margareta Andersen (licht/lumières/lighting) Patrick Van Neck, Johannes Bellinck (geluid/son/sound) MACHINERIE / MACHINERY Christophe Geens, Ralf Nonn KLEEDSTER / COSTUMIÈRE / DRESSER Heidi Ehrhart BOVENTITELING / SURTITRAGE / SURTITLING Inge Floré VERTALING /TRADUCTION / TRANSLATION ENG/NL Alex Stockman, NL/ENG Trevor Perri, NL-ENG/FR Anne Vanderscheuren VERTALING / TRADUCTION / TRANSLATION + STEM / VOIX / VOICE Quechua: Amiel Cayo SPREIDING & TOURMANAGEMENT / DISTRIBUTION & TOUR MANAGEMENT Saskia Liénard PRODUCTIE / PRODUCTION KVS COPRODUCTIE / COPRODUCTION Perpodium, NNT MET DE STEUN VAN / AVEC LE SOUTIEN DE / WITH THE SUPPORT OF Tax Shelter van de Belgische Federale Overheid via Cronos Invest en BNPPFF